I blame the late Manny Coto for that. I blame him for a lot of bad TV, actually. lol (ENT was the exception, somehow)
or get cancelled with a big cliffhanger (My name is Earl)
Wasn't that due to the Writer's Strike? Regardless, showrunners should never end a season on a cliffhanger when the studios have shown they'll pull the plug for any reason whatsoever.
During an interview with the "Slick & Thick" podcast, Ethan Suplee, who portrayed Randy Hickey, revealed that, ultimately, the cancellation was due to communication issues between NBC, the show's network, and Fox, the show's studio.
"We were a hit. And the network called the studio and said, 'We want to license the show for another year,' and the studio said, 'Well, we want more money. We want to renegotiate our deal with you.' And the network basically did not respond for two weeks," said Suplee. "And then the studio called back and said, 'We'll take your deal,' and the network said, 'Too late.'"
Looks like plain old incompetence killed the show.
Regardless, showrunners should never end a season on a cliffhanger when the studios have shown they’ll pull the plug for any reason whatsoever.
I guess if contracts are signed, it's okay, but even then it's a risk (e.g. strikes). For the most part I agree, though. You need to end on a note that, at the bare minimum, could serve as a slightly unsatisfying pausing point.
That show overstayed its welcome inside the third season. It would have been a better show as a British style 3-episode / 4-season mini-ish series. But there was sooooo much filler and soooo much recycling of plots, the edginess of killing and dismembering a guy was downright trite by the time Jimmy Smits got to the set.
Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take Star Trek from me
...
Lost my love, lost my land
Lost the last place I could stand
There's no place I can be
Since I've found the NCC
The modern production house simply hates animation. That's the only thing I can conclude from how they've axed every anime, kid's cartoon, and live-action/cartoon mash-up on the slate.
They are going to lock Bugs Bunny in the vault and throw away the key.
I'm not that surprised. The show's very nature gives it a limited shelf life. Part of the fun of Trek is watching the characters develop and advance in their careers. Eventually they're gonna get promoted past what can be called lower decks.
I'm a bit pissed off that they're canceling this and going ahead with the section 31 project, but I find section 31 to be tedious at best, and that it undermines Star Trek's message at worst. "Your utopian post-scarcity society that celebrates diversity can only exist because of these unaccountable fascists slinking about behind the scenes."
Section 31 was a cool concept in ds9 because of the context around it.
Every other time 31 shows up is just... Blech. Feels like those writers want to be writing something bloodier than star trek and this is their way to do it.
My biggest gripe with discovery was the secret plot to blow up the Klingon homeworld foiled at the last second. Almost turned me away from it entirely but they got much better. SNW is up there with TNG for me now.
Same. I love Lower Decks and really would hate to see the Paramount squeeze the IP until it's like a will-they/won't-they Mariner/Boimler pairing to boost views.
The problem is that seasons are only 10 episodes nowadays, less than half of what they used to be. So this is more like being cancelled mid-3rd season as far as content goes.
With the Texas class disaster, they create a "Arizona Class" ship which is partially automated. The lower decks group becomes the bridge crew - and the only crew on the ship. They think they are in charge, but the computer and a shadowy group of scientists are actually pulling all the strings. Can they prove that they are the real ones in charge?
It does cater to the adult cartoon crowd but it caters to trekkies in general. Mike McMahan has been a fan of Star Trek forever and as the showrunner did a lot of good universe building within the confines of the TNG era. It has a lot of callbacks and references and is just a fun and funny way to enjoy Star Trek.
I really liked it, I considered it one of the better shows in general, because being lead by a true fan and not just a writers room with notes allowed the show to be a fun little exploration and expansion of the universe, showing us the side of Starfleet we don't see very often.
Some people have criticized it for being too goofy with the argument that Starfleet officers are supposed to be professional. My counter is simply that not all officers are bridge crew material and there are so many mistakes that happen across all the random ships in the fleet that it's fun to center on one and see how it's going.
I was going to say, it has been my personal favorite star trek series since voyager mainly because its set in the timeline I enjoy the best and its aesthetics. Also, it's just fun.
Cartoons do big concept high-action content cheap when live action shows have settle on cheesy low-rent special effects and set dressing. Treasure Planet, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the Lion King - basically impossible to do right without spending a fortune a la Avatar or Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.
Even if you aren't doing Sci-Fi, you can get a lot of mileage out of the medium simply because the artist is doing so much of the leg work. Check out "Monster" or "Perfect Blue", two shows that had originally been planned as live action dramas but got converted to animation for budgetary reasons. Also, too, "Grave of Fireflies" if you want to have your heart torn out.
Cartoon Trek goes right back to the series roots - there was a cartoon version of the Kirk Trek from '73 - and holds up better than the live action original in terms of visuals.
While you may have picked up what the other comment was putting down, the statement you are looking for is: "I COULDN'T care less." Meaning you care so little you are at the absolute zero point of fucks to give😁